Hyaluronic acid-coated Bi:Cu(2)O: an H(2)S-responsive agent for colon cancer with targeted delivery and enhanced photothermal performance

BACKGROUND: Endogenous hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S)-responsive theranostic agents have attracted extensive attention due to their specificity for colon cancer. However, the development of such agents with high enrichment in tumors and excellent photothermal performance remains challenging. RESULTS: We prepared hyaluronic acid (HA)-coated Bi-doped cuprous oxide (Bi:Cu(2)O@HA) via a one-pot method. The HA specifically targets colon cancer tumor cells to improve the enrichment of Bi:Cu(2)O@HA at tumor sites, while the doped Bi both enhances the photothermal performance of the H(2)S-triggered Cu(2)O and serves as an agent for tumor imaging. The results in this work demonstrated that the Bi:Cu(2)O@HA nanoparticles exhibit good biocompatibility, target colon cancer tumor cells, facilitate computed tomography imaging, and enhanced H(2)S-responsive photothermal therapy performance, resulting in an excellent therapeutic effect in colon cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The novel Bi:Cu(2)O@HA nanoparticles exhibit excellent tumor targeting and photothermal therapeutic effects, which provide new strategies and insights for colon cancer therapy. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12951-022-01555-x.